Thursday, May 29, 2008

Wilton Course 2 Finale- Banana Cupcakes



Ha Ha Had to post my cake! It actually came out not looking TOO bad.
I baked a banana cake and had to use class buttercream to ice it. I was burned out on chocolate and decided to make banana, but Mark hates bananas so I made just a little cake to decorate. But I chose to make a 3 layer 4 inch cake and make cupcakes to take to work. Yes there are 4 inch cake pans. HeHe So cute. The cake is pictured above.
Anyway, Mark told me no one would eat nasty banana cupcakes. He thinks no one likes banana. Of course he was wrong. I iced the cupcakes with buttercream I made using the recipe from the Opera cake, but flavored with bourbon vanilla. Fantastic! I took a dozen cuppies to work and brought home the empty container! Everyone had more than one! The cupcake and the buttercream combo was really a winner. Here are the recipes.
Banana Cupcakes

1 (18.25 oz.) box yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 oz.) box instant banana pudding
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup mashed banana
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with papers.
2. In a large bowl combine cake mix and pudding mix. Stir together and create a well in the center.
3. Add eggs, banana, water and oil to the center. Use a mixer to combine. Scrape sides down, and mix for about four minutes on medium speed.
4. Pour batter into muffin tin, until about 2/3 filled with batter.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tests done.

French Buttercream

2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (60 grams) water
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ cups (7 ounces; 200 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
flavouring of your choice (a tablespoon of an extract, a few tablespoons of melted white chocolate, citrus zest, etc.) I used Madagasgar Bourbon Vanilla.
Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225F (124C) on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment.
Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).
While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass. With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny. At this point add in your flavouring and beat for an additional minute or so.Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it’s set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes). Note-This buttercream will not hold up well in warm weather.

13 comments:

giz said...

Wow...basket weave and wilton flowers - very intense. I just finished course 1 and starting course 2 next Tuesday. Love the course - hate how expensive it is. My sister is a police detective so I send all my stuff with her to work and tel her to tell them it's donuts .ha ha

Anonymous said...

Gourgeos cupcakes. A true masterpice.

Anonymous said...

Nice flower work! How long did it take to do the cake in the pic?

Fran Z said...

giz- Yes! It is a lot of fun, but yes it can get expensive cuz it appears to be addicting!
Monica, much thanks!
Dana, thanks, the flowers are royal icing and made ahead of time. My little basket weave prob took about 20 min? I think!

Anonymous said...

GREAT job!! Very impressive! I LOVED Course 2!!

Fran Z said...

Thanks, Prudence, I hope to one day be able to decorate 1/2 as good as you!

Renee said...

Wow, your cakes look so beautiful! I love the idea of banana cupcakes.

Astra Libris said...

Oh my goodness, banana cupcakes with bourbon vanilla buttercream??!! Heavenly!! I vote for banana cake any day... :-) Your basket-weave cupcakes are truly stunning works of art!

BC said...

Beautiful work!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Banana cupcakes sound good to me!! And wow... I finished the wilton course 2 awhile ago but none of my flowers looked nearly as gorgeous! Great job :-) You doing course 3?

Faery said...

Oh those cupacakes are really beautiful and I think they taste delicious too yum yum

Elle said...

Your cake is positively darling! bannana cupcakes and buttercream sound like a great combo...lucky office mates.

Anonymous said...

Don't you just love those Wilton Courses. I took 1 and 2, but don't like fondant, so skipped 3. But it was fun. Practice! Practice! Practice. YOur cuppy cake looks yummy. Good luck with the rest!!